Snowfall
by Ari Moriarty
Summary: Two snapshots of a hesitantly budding romance between two cold but fascinating women. Yukiko x Mitsuru. [Co-written with SuperNova23!]
1. Yukiko's Story

**Author's Note: **Again, I got the wonderful opportunity to write a story with the brilliant **SuperNova2**3! Gotta give credit where credit is due, of course, so I wrote this first piece, here, and he wrote the second piece. Please do take the time to read them both. He's got this stunning writing style, and you'd be missing out if you passed it up!

The color white was a problem.

It had never been a problem before, thought Yukiko, as she stood and stared around blankly at the walls of stylish new fashions offered by the designers of Okina City's own Croco Fur boutique. She had some white clothes that she'd once really liked. There was that skirt that she'd worn almost every day for a year, and a white dress that she saved for the summertime. Recently, though, she'd been leaning towards bolder colors, colors like the ones that Chie wore. Reds, purples, and blues, insisted Chie, looked much better against Yukiko's pale skin. They helped draw out her features, make her look more vibrant, and less washed out.

That was just fine, of course, but…Mitsuru-san's favorite color was white, and that was a problem. It was a problem, because Yukiko wasn't at all sure, anymore, if she could make herself look good in white. White was pale, like snow, like Yukiko, and it didn't make a sensation. When it came to Mitsuru-san, Yukiko wanted to stand out from the crowd.

Yukiko had been impressed by the older girl ever since Mitsuru's first visit to Inaba, almost a year ago. There was something just so elegant about Mitsuru, so poised, so composed. At first, Yukiko had been sure that she wanted to grow into a beautiful person just like Mitsuru someday. Mitsuru could get anyone to do anything, just by raising an eyebrow and flicking back a coiled curl of red hair. Yukiko was envious of that red hair. It was fiery and attractive, like Mitsuru, while Yukiko's own black hair was drab and quiet, like the way that Yukiko wished she didn't have to be.

They'd started writing letters to each other not long after Mitsuru had left to return to her work with the Shadow Operatives in…well, wherever they were located, these days. Honestly, Mitsuru had never volunteered the information, and Yukiko, discreetly, had never asked. She did know, though, that Mitsuru's family owned a lot of things in Iwatodai, and that Mitsuru had a home in Iwatodai, that she was currently sharing with Akihiko.

Thinking about that made Yukiko wrinkle her nose in mild distaste. What did a magnificent woman like Mitsuru, she wondered, see in a guy like Akihiko? He was all about brute force, and overwhelming masculinity. Yukiko couldn't even have a conversation with him without being turned off by all the talk of protein and fitness, workouts and boxing matches.

Then again, she reflected, it never bothered her when Chie talked about that sort of thing. That was strange, wasn't it? Yukiko wondered why.

In any case, she decided, forcing her mind back on to the topic at hand, she'd come to Croco Fur today because Mitsuru was going to be in town to visit in only a couple of days, and Yukiko desperately wanted to show her that she, too, could be poised and mature. Maybe she couldn't stop traffic just by looking at it, the way that Mitsuru could, but at least she could dress up a little bit to impress.

The trouble, though, was that white was Mitsuru's favorite color, and Yukiko just couldn't make that work for her. Maybe, she pondered, if she tried an off-white, or a cream colored sweater…

"Um, excuse me," she murmured, walking up to the counter to address the clerk. "Would you mind helping me find something? I'm looking for a dress that would make me stand out, um…something that would make a great impression."

"Of course, honey!" The clerk hurried around to Yukiko's side, beaming and almost bubbling over with plastic helpfulness. "So, what's the occasion? Do you have a hot date?"

Yukiko blushed. "N-no," she stammered. "It's…it's nothing like that." She opened her mouth to explain, but then closed it again. Somehow, the words "It's because of a girl," didn't seem to make sense in this context, for all that they were nothing but the truth. Instead, she said, "I'm seeing some old friends from out of town, and I'd like to look nice for them when they arrive." There, she thought. That was better. That sounded like the sort of mature thing that Mitsuru would have approved of.

"Sure, sure, we've got just the thing for you," prattled the clerk, almost pushing Yukiko over to a rack in on the left hand side of the room. "The little black dress is just the thing for a party! We just got some stuff in stock that is all the rage this year! How about these? I bet this one would look really classy on you!"

The clerk pulled out a black dress with a cute little a-line cut, something that really did appeal to Yukiko's sense of style. She was just about to take it back to the dressing room, when she remembered the way that black was just a darker version of white. It wasn't any better; in fact, it might be worse. At least white could stand out in stark contrast to Yukiko's dark hair. Black would just make her look monochrome and uncreative.

"No, thank you," she mused. "No, I'd really like something that makes a statement…" again, Yukiko pictured the curls of Mitsuru's red h air, and the way her eyes flashed when she turned her head. Now that was a breathtaking picture, a hard picture to forget. That was the sort of thing that Yukiko wanted.

"How about this?" she asked, suddenly reaching out and pulling a dark red, slinky dress off of the rack.

The clerk looked surprised. "That's…well, that's really designed for some of our older customers. Customers that are, um…going to different kinds of places."

It took Yukiko a moment before the import of the clerk's words really sunk in. She colored, somewhat embarrassed, and carefully hung the dress back up. "Oh, I see…" she murmured. "Well, I…would you be able to help me find something in the same color, but perhaps a little…" She had trouble coming up with the right word.

"Classier?" supplied the clerk.

"Yes," agreed Yukiko, nodding hurriedly. "Yes, exactly."

"Oh, well," replied the clerk with a smile, again leading Yukiko over to yet another rack of clothes, "Let's see what we can do…"


	2. Mitsuru's Story

Of all the places in the world to rest, why was it here?

Mitsuru Kirijo was not a woman who took breaks. She was always busy, making sure both her company and the Shadow Operatives were running smoothly. She was only human, and like any human, will succumb to fatigue and need to rest. She would not be the one to admit that she needed a break however, so it was up to her two close friends, Fuuka and Aigis to force her onto as train to relax.

So why did they pick the one place she would get anything but rest?

They had rooms booked in the Amagi Inn, which was the only hotel in the area. It was rather nice with centuries of tradition and a soothing hot spring bath, but none of that mattered. The one thing that stood out to Mitsuru was the daughter of the manager, Yukiko Amagi.

Mitsuru felt the two of them were kindred spirits at first, carrying themselves with a similar air of grace, but Mitsuru's keen eyes began to notice differences between them. Yukiko was always surrounded by friends while Mitsuru made sure to keep a little distance between others and herself. Mitsuru found everything about her enjoyable. Her intelligence was of course good, and she consistently was one of the top students at school, according to her friends. But also her smile and her laugh.

Her laugh would never leave Mitsuru's mind for the rest of her days. When she started, it took quite a while to calm her down, and Mitsuru would smile the entire time.

"Mitsuru-san, is everything alright?" The mechanical voice of Aigis snapped Mitsuru out of her revere. "It's time to go into the springs. Would you like to join us?"

"Yes, I'll be out in a minute."

As Aigis left, Mitsuru took a moment to compose herself. She had spent time with other girls. Yukari was one of her closest confidants and both Fuuka and Aigis worked with her on a daily basis. She couldn't place what was so special about Amagi, but she knew she felt different around her. Shaking her head, she went to join the others.

Fate had other plans, as on the way, Mitsuru ran into the one girl she wanted to see and avoid at the same time. "Oh, Kirijo-san! Are you enjoying your stay?"

Mitsuru's breath caught in her throat and her higher brain functions seemed to shut down as she went onto auto-pilot. "Very much so. I was on my way to the baths." Then, before she could stop herself, she spoke again. "Would you like to join me?"

_No no no! That was bad, please, Yukiko, say no!_

"Oh, um… I'd love to. You go on ahead."

_Damnit._

Mitsuru smiled at her and nodded as she headed off to join her colleagues. Once they spied her, Fuuka called out to her. "Mitsuru-senpai! What kept you?"

She was together enough to pull together a lie. After all, when you're an heiress who runs a secret organization that operated at midnight in secret, a silver tongue was second nature. "I just had something I needed to finish up."

This resulted in a lecture from the two about how her health and how she needed to try and relax, cut off by a soft-spoken, "Am I interrupting something?"

Mitsuru was the first to answer, "No, of course not. By all means, please come in."

As she stepped in, a pink colouring appeared on both women's cheeks. Aigis, seeming to see what neither of them could see, turned to Fuuka. "Fuuka-san, the steam is overheating my systems. Could you please come and make sure I am alright?"

Fuuka gave the android a strange look. "Are you sure? I thought we examined you before coming here." But as she looked at Mitsuru and Yukiko just staring at each other, she quickly stood up. "A-Actually, I think we may want to double-check. Come on Aigis."

Once they left, it was just the two women remaining. Yukiko, quickly trying to strike up a conversation, asked, "So, what brings you back to Inaba?"

"I've been forced here. Everyone says I need to rest." Mitsuru scoffed at that. She was still adamant that she was alright

"W-Well you do need to keep your health up." Mitsuru quickly directed an icy glare at her, causing her to stammer and add, "I-I mean, if anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd- I mean…"

Mitsuru pressed a finger to her lips, chuckling. "I understand. Don't worry, I know my own limits." Yukiko raised an eyebrow, making Mitsuru laugh more. "I see I can never escape my sceptics."

This flustered Yukiko even more. "N-No! It's not that I doubt you, but you do seem to be someone who tries to take on more than they can handle."

Mitsuru smiled at her, "And how much can I handle exactly?"

Yukiko batted her eyelashes. We'll just have to see, won't we?"

And it was there that the Snow-child was able to thaw the Ice Queen's heart with their mutual passion.


End file.
